Speeches by Stevens.

“Those are always part of the conversation. We are quite lucky in that we have MPs from Wales in ministerial positions. The International Trade Minister is a Welsh MP. As I said, the Paymaster General is a Welsh MP. We have two Welsh MPs in the Foreign Office in ministerial positions. I am an adviser to the Board of Tra…”

“Skills is a devolved policy area, but I know that the Welsh Government are celebrating 100,000 apprenticeships in this Senedd term this week, and they have a skills strategy. I talked earlier about our universities.”

“Thank you very much, Chair. Thanks for the invitation to come back before you today, and for the welcome for our new team. I would like to mention the Wales Office Minister Claire Hughes, who is unable to be here today, but she is specifically supporting our work in north Wales and speaking for my Department on Welsh l…”

“On intergovernmental relations, we have had really close working across the two Governments. This is across all strands: me with the First Minister, the Prime Minister with the First Minister, Ministers in the Wales Office with Ministers in the Welsh Government, and officials talking to each other every day, not just i…”

“It is not specifically on coal tips or coal remediation, but there are two projects. In the Budget, the Chancellor announced £4.23 million to clean up contaminated brownfield land adjacent to the Celtic freeport, and the transition board has given £8 million of funding to support the South Wales Industrial Transit…”

“Not at all, no. I would not just look at it in relation to skills; I would look at it in terms of the growth deals. We have some examples such as what universities are doing, the money that is going into transport infrastructure, and the linkage between universities and new industries. Courses are being set up specific…”

“We work very closely with relevant Departments across the UK Government—the Department for Business and Trade, the Foreign Office, No. 10 and the Treasury—and you will know that we have done a number of very significant trade deals with India, the EU, the United States and South Korea. The trade strategy that we have p…”

“I hold a range of discussions with Ministers in the Welsh Government, including about our crucial investment in the Welsh rail network. We are investing at least £445 million in Welsh rail to right years of underfunding by previous Tory Governments. That will mean new stations, and more and faster trains on the key lin…”

“Wales is leading the UK’s clean energy mission and secured two major projects in the UK Government’s contracts for difference scheme last week: Erebus, which is Wales’s first floating offshore wind project in the Celtic sea, and Awel y Môr offshore wind farm, off the coast of north Wales. It is the most successful auct…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This was the most successful auction round in European history, as I have mentioned. Awel y Môr is the first offshore wind project in Wales to win a contract in over a decade, and Erebus will be Wales’s first floating offshore wind farm. These projects will power almost 1 million hom…”

“The hon. Member will know very well from my reply to her letter that her assertion is fundamentally wrong, because she is using a combination of operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancement funding to reach the total figure provided under Conservative Governments. The Labour Government have announced nearly £500 m…”

“Energy bills are a significant issue for people across the country. That is why, thanks to this Labour Government, from April this year all households will see an average £150 reduction in costs on their energy bills. Energy suppliers will pass on the savings automatically to households. My hon. Friend will have seen t…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right; this Government are supporting people across Wales and the UK with the cost of living. In comparison with when we came into government, households that take out a new mortgage are saving around £1,400 a year on their mortgage repayments. We have also increased the state pension by 4.…”

“The Government are absolutely determined to lower the cost of living for families across Wales and the whole UK. That is why we are benefiting 69,000 children in Wales by scrapping the two-child limit. It is why we are slashing household energy bills by an average of £150 a year, and why we are again increasing the nat…”

“The introduction of the £1 bus fare cap for young people, and now a £2 cap on all fares from the Welsh Labour Government, has been great news; it will help everyone with the cost of living. The 100 new bus routes right across Wales, which will be introduced if Welsh Labour are re-elected in May, will further help peopl…”

“Wages are up, and inward investment is up. Inactivity is down on the year, and unemployment is down on the year. We have also had six cuts in interest rates, meaning that families taking out a new mortgage are £1,400 a year better off than they were under the Tories.”

“Heavy rail projects in both countries are classified as England and Wales whether the track is in Wales, England or both. They do not attract Barnett consequentials because heavy rail is reserved. Examples of such projects include Padeswood in north Wales and the regeneration of Cardiff Central station. Surely the hon.…”

“I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that investment in our offshore wind sector is integral to realising our potential as a clean energy superpower, and to creating thousands of high-skilled jobs in Wales and among our Celtic cousins in Cornwall. That is why last week’s auction round was such an historic moment, and w…”

“I simply say what I have already said to the right hon. Lady, which is that we inherited these schemes; they had well-documented problems, and that is why we have taken decisive action to end them. She will have seen our announcement today on the warm homes plan and the £15 billion fund to help people across the countr…”

“I thank the right hon. Lady for raising the matter, and I really do feel for people who have found themselves in this situation, including her constituents, through absolutely no fault of their own. She will know that we inherited this scheme from the Conservative Government, and both ECO and the Great British insulati…”